Fadwa’s Story

To say Fadwa is driven is an understatement. She doesn’t dream of becoming a surgical nurse, she is actively taking steps to make it happen. And to make her mother proud.

Fadwa lost her mother to cancer when she was just 13 years old. Her father expected Fadwa to assume her mother’s responsibilities and moved the family often, keeping them distanced from any extended family. She was not allowed to have friends or participate in extracurricular activities. She attended five different high schools and managed to maintain excellent grades while she cooked, cleaned, and took care of her two brothers and father.

At 17, she was abandoned by her father and placed in SCO’s foster care program. SCO helped stabilize the teen, placed her with a foster family, and eventually was able to locate a maternal aunt who opened her heart and home to her long-lost niece through kinship foster care.

Despite her early challenges, Fadwa stays focused on the opportunities ahead of her. SCO’s foster care staff helped her prepare for college; guiding her through the application process and helping her achieve both a Dream USA Scholarship and a Youth in Foster Care Award.  Currently a student at Borough of Manhattan Community College, SCO helped her secure an internship with a surgeon at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Fadwa’s goal is to keep her GPA high enough to get into nursing school. And we have no doubt she will achieve this and so much more.

 

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Family Supports – Long Island

Through a combination of center-based workshops and counseling, SCO works closely with families who have experienced crises and helps prevent crisis situations in the future. We offer individual and family counseling services both on site and at home that help to ensure that all families get healthier and happier starts. These efforts have been highly successful at reducing foster care placements as well as accelerating family reunification when a placement was unavoidable.

Success Stories

Fadwa’s Story

Foster Care and Education

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Declan’s Forever Family

"Adopting Declan was life-changing. You felt the ground shift." Learn More

93%

of graduates at SCO's high school for over-age, under-credited students received a NYS Regent's diploma.

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